received with just and universal applause, he in the next year enlarged it into five cantos; and, by the happiest art and judgment imaginable, enriched it with the beautiful machinery of the Sylphs, a fet of invisible beings whom he accidentally faw mentioned, as conftant attendants, and as interested agents, in the affairs of the Ladies, not only in the Comte de Gabalis, but alfo in fome of Madame de Sevigné's Letters. Into what a mafs of exquifite poetry has he raised and expanded so flight a hint! and placed the Rape of the Lock, by this happy insertion and addition, above all other Mock Heroic Poems whatever! Addison, to whom he communicated his intention of introducing this new fpecies of machinery, did not certainly conceive the felicity and the propriety with which it would be executed; and, for that reason, and not from envy and jealoufy, may be candidly fuppofed to have diffuaded him from the attempt. It would have been as unfortunate for him to have followed the advice of Addison on this occafion, as it would have been for La Fontaine and Boileau to have listened to Patru, when he perfuaded the one not to attempt to write his Fables, and the other his Art of Poetry. Dennis, fome years after, attacked this invulnerable compofition, with equal impotence and ill-nature, endeavouring to fhew that the intertexture of the machinery was fuperfluous. It is remarkable that he had introduced guardian fpirits as attendants on the fa vourites vourites of Heaven, in his Temple of Fame, as he informs Steele in a letter on this fubject; which spirits he afterwards judicioufly omitted. It appears by this letter to Steele, dated November 16, 1712, that he firft communicated to him at that time, The Temple of Fame, though he had written it two years before. Steele affures him, it contained "a thoufand thou"fand beauties;" many of which are specified in the notes of this edition, and therefore need not be here repeated. The descriptive powers of Pope are much more vifible and ftrong in this poem, than in the next that is to be mentioned in the order of time; the Windfor Foreft*; the first part of which was written, indeed, 1704, but the whole was not finished and published till 1713: a poem evidently written in imitation of Cooper's Hill, and as evidently fuperior to it. Denham is a writer that has been extolled far beyond his merits. Nothing can be colder and more profaïc, for inftance, than the manner in which he has fpoken of the diftant profpect of London and St. Paul's, and also of Edward the Third; both fine subjects for poetry. The Claremont of Garth was alfo another imitation of Cooper's Hill, and unworthy the Author of the Difpenfary; it contains an unnatural mixture of wit, pleasantry, and fatire, with rural defcription. But Thomson has carried descriptive poetry to I have a peculiar pleafure in mentioning another excellent defcriptive piece, The Needwood Foreft of Mr. Mundy. to its height; and being a true fon of Nature, has delineated all her most striking objects, with a force and diftinctness hitherto unparalleled. The filence, the folitude, the gloomy folemnity, the pleafing melancholy, impreffed on our minds by the conventual scenes of Eloifa and Abelard, by the ideas of long-founding ifles, and cells, and lamps, and altars, and graves; induce and allure the reader to forget the inherent indelicacy of the story of these two unfortunate lovers. For though the "high-embowed "roof," "ftoried windows," "ftudious cloifters," and "pealing organ," had been mentioned by Milton, yet this fort of scenery had never before been exhibited as the chief and leading object and foundation of any poem in our language. Pope was fully fenfible of the indelicate circumstances above-mentioned, that attended his fubject, and did not therefore much relish the manner in which Prior had faid, that these circumstances were concealed with dexterity and skill, in the following elegant lines: He o'er the weeping nun has drawn And foftly drawing back the veil, The God fhall to his votaries tell, Each confcious tear, each blushing grace That deck'd dear Eloifa's face. ALMA, P. II. Savage related that Pope attempted this compofition in rivalship to Prior's Nut-brown Maid. It is not true that these very unhappy lovers "found quiet and "confolation in retirement and piety." The whole tenor of their letters contradicts this fuppofition. These curious letters were published in London by Dr. Rawlinfon, 1718, with an extraordinary motto prefixed from Claudian, relative to Abelard's punishment, too grofs to be here inferted. After arriving at fuch eminence by fo many capital compofitions, our Author, with that just self-confidence that ought to actuate every man of real genius and ability, meditated a higher effort; fomething that might improve and advance his fortune as well as his fame; a tranflation* of Homer, which Milton is faid once to have thought of executing. This tranflation he proposed to print by subscription, in fix volumes in quarto, for the fum of fix guineas: And to the eternal honour of our country, in encouraging a work of fuch fuperlative and uncommon merit, the fubfcription was larger than any before known. Every man of every party, that had any, or pretended to have any taste or love of literature, fent his * A clamour was raised at the time, that he had not fufficient learning for fuch an undertaking; Dr. Johnson says, that confidering his irregular education, and course of life," it is not very likely that he overflowed with Greek." Perhaps our most eminent Poets may be ranked, with respect to their learning, in the following order: Milton, Spenfer, Cowley, Butler, Donne, Jonfon, Akenfide, Gray, Dryden, Addifon. his name; and the number of fubfcribers were five hundred and feventy-five; but as fome fubfcribed for more than one copy, the copies delivered to fubscribers were fix hundred and fifty-four. These copies Lintot, who became proprietor of the work, engaged to fupply, at his own expence, and alfo to give the Author two hundred pounds for each volume; fo that Pope obtained, on the whole, the fum of five thousand three hundred and twenty pounds four fhillings. With this money, fo very honourably obtained, he immediately and prudently purchased several annuities, and particularly one of five hundred pounds a year, from the Duke of Buckingham. The work was enriched by many judicious notes by Pope himfelf, as well as by Broome, who alfo was employed to make extracts from Euftathius, as was alfo a man of much greater learning, the celebrated Dr. Jortin, who gives the following account of the matter in his Adverfaria: "What paffed between Mr. Pope and me, I will "endeavour to recollect as well as I can, for it hap"pened many years ago, and I never made any me"morandum of it. "When I was a foph at Cambridge, Pope was "about his Tranflation of Homer's Ilias, and had published part of it. "He employed fome perfon (I know not who he "was) to make extracts for him from Euftathius, "which he inferted in his notes. At that time there cc was VOL. I. b |